PORTLAND, Ore. — Three Utah prep teams performed well at the Nike National Cross Country Championships Saturday in Portland.

The best finish came from the Davis High girls team as it earned third place with a solid performance from a senior and a gritty performance from its top freshman.

The Darts were led by senior Taylor Cox, who finished in 18:16.1, but freshman Aubrey Argyle proved her grit after falling in the first kilometer.

“She struggled off the line,” said Davis head coach Corbin Talley. “She’s little, and she got pushed around and ended up falling in the first kilometer of the race. She fell pretty hard, but caught back up and had to really work through the rest of the race to finish number two. She showed a lot of character for a ninth-grader racing in her first national championship. We’re proud of her.”

Argyle finished with a time of 18:41.2 and 67th place.

On the boys side, American Fork finished seventh with Connor McMillan leading the way. McMillan finished with a time of 15:13 and seventh place. Zac Jacklin was second for the squad with 15:43.

The Davis boys earned 17th place with Skylar Williams earning the top time of 16:05. “That was great,” Talley said. “We were a really young team that barely had a shot at making it here, and we did. We were thrilled to be here.”

Amy Donaldson covers high school sports, winter and Olympic sports, as well as outdoor and recreation. She contributes to the Deseret News' Reasons to Run blog, as well as a twice-a-month fitness column. She also writes a more ..